Monday, October 30, 2006

Iraqi Kurdistan distinguished by peace

As sectarian violence continues to ravage Baghdad, the Kurdish provinces to the north enjoy peace and growing prosperity. Anti-American sentiment may be rampant elsewhere in the country, but in Kurdistan, American forces are deemed as “liberators” who removed Saddam Hussein’s repressive regime. However, the US- backed policy to establish a strong and unified central government in Iraq has not gained support among Kurdish officials, who are reluctant to relinquish their region’s extensive powers of autonomy, confirmed in the new Iraqi Constitution.